With a whimper...
That’s how Imagicon, Birmingham’s latest science fiction/fantasy convention died last Friday. Curious as a fortnight earlier in January, everything was still go. The bare-bones announcement was posted on their home page, Facebook, and forum around 8:30 AM. The organizers announced the cancelation and their intention to move the con to Columbus, Georgia next May. That word wasn’t a shock. A couple of Saturdays before, a post about purchasing memberships was deleted rather than answered by the admins of the IC board. That set off the ol’ Spidey-sense and made the cancelation announcement no surprise.
What is a surprise is despite being read nearly one hundred times over the next couple of days, the post elicited no replies. Not one. No lament of IC’s end or anger at its flight from the city. My own reaction was mixed, a blend of “Doggone it” and “Don’t let the door hit you”. But why post that? It’s easy to point a finger at the organizers what could be seen as their weak efforts to promote the event. No updates on their MySpace page or Twitter since last August. A Facebook page accessible only to those on FB. Contrast that with the upcoming Deep South Con 50 ’s page, visible to all. Do you want people to know what’s going on or not? Forget about getting folks to “like” the page. Get the word out. Whether they were victims of circumstance or simply been in over their heads, I never got the impression the people behind Imagicon were anything but sincere in their efforts. They stepped into the breach after the disastrous Omega*Con in 2008 and put on flawed but enjoyable shows over the next two years and are to be commended for the effort. Both cons drew the better part of 1500 people and despite the problems (expenses with the BJCC for IC1, the split venue for IC2), IC seemed to be on a shaky, though positive, track. Guess not. I wish them success in the future, I just wish it were in Birmingham and not Columbus.
The efforts of the organizers are one side of the Imagicon story. The other is the regional fan base. While they showed up for the cons themselves, one has to wonder if there’s enough give-a-damn in the city and region’s fan base to support such efforts. There’s not enough to comment on the con’s passing. All in all there was a rather passive reaction to the effort. Some of that passivity, perhaps most of it, came from a lack of trust. Omega*Con burned a lot of people in Birmingham and within the SF/F community. While they were two distinct organizations, the cons were linked in the minds of many, making the hill Imagicon had to climb to earn trust in its own right all the steeper. If you’re a publisher or an agent, do you want to hang your authors or actors out to dry at some half-assed con? If you’re a fan, do you want to volunteer for one? Uh, no.
What about Inner Worlds? Why didn’t we get involved? It never came up, largely because I never raised the issue. Inner Worlds was created to discuss a book every month, not as a “full service” science fiction fan club. The two years of the con we were still pretty small, less than half our current number (@ 22). Might we have gotten involved? Possibly. But it wasn’t something on the radar. Volunteering to work the con would’ve been something for individuals to decide, not the group. As for myself, the thought crossed my mind. I might’ve squeezed out the time, but feared what impact it might have in other areas, particularly on Inner Worlds. That said, as we’ve grown, it’s possible areas of expansion are opening for the group. There’s some discussion of them now, nothing concrete, so there’s no reason to put those ideas out here, though suggestions are welcome. Which ever direction we choose, that Third Thursday sit down is in my eyes the heart of the group and will remain so.
Okay, that's a little heavy, so here's some dessert. B-Metro, a local magazine has a cover feature on steampunk this month. There's a bigger picture of the cover photo on their Facebook page. I didn't know steampunk was both a fashion trend and a lifestyle. Next thing you know someone will make a something that's a floor polish and a dessert topping. Num-num.
Check out Rene's work on the Pyr blog by reading the first of their Author Round Tables. Featured this time out are Mark Chadbourn (whose The Silver Skull we read in March 2010), James Barclay, and Jasper Kent.
Lastly, what's one of these posts without a reference to GRRM or A Song of Ice and Fire? A refreshing change of pace? Ha! That's funny. While you're laughing, dig these screenshots from A Game of Thrones: Genesis , the upcoming PC game based on the series. Now you can set the game to the state of affairs at the end of A Feast for Crows and play the rest of the series out for yourself. What can I say? Who needs Dance?
[Khan] Give me Genesis! [/Khan]
Posted by Brandon at 2/16/2011 11:01 PM 
Categories: Inner Worlds, Titles
Tags: A Song of Ice and Fire conventions ImagiCon GRRM meetings books Deep South Con 50
Categories: Inner Worlds, Titles
Tags: A Song of Ice and Fire conventions ImagiCon GRRM meetings books Deep South Con 50
One point about this. Stand by what I wrote though it's probably too much "me" and not enough "we". Word through the grapevine is Imagicon was a victim of circumstance when it comes to the cancellation. Too bad. Enjoyed the last two. I'll commend the effort once more and wish them well in the future and let those be the last words about Imagicon on this blog from me.
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What ? Why ? I am not surprised to say the least...
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I don't know any specifics and what I do know is second-hand. They got caught in a crunch between this and that and had to cancel. It wasn't their choice and they're planning something for next year but in a different location. Maybe things will work out and they can return, but for the moment, ImagiCon isn't in Birmingham.
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